Augmented reality (AR) refers to techniques integrating virtual elements into real-world environment such as a real-world view inspected via a computer display, for example. Augmented reality applications include both entertainment and professional ones. Games represent the more entertaining use cases whereas different navigation, such as vehicle/vessel navigation or pedestrian navigation, and status display applications superimposed on e.g. real-time images belong to the more serious domain of AR. Accordingly, many of the AR's most prominent use cases incorporate also various aspects of location-based services (LBS) exploiting e.g. GPS (Global Positioning System) and/or Near LBS technologies such as WLAN (Wireless LAN, Local Area Network) or Bluetooth for positioning. For instance, a mobile electronic device may be configured to identify the location thereof on the basis of an available LBS solution, e.g. an integrated GPS receiver, whereupon a camera view visualized on the display of the device is augmented with navigational, commercial, weather or other type of location-dependent information.
Notwithstanding the obvious benefits of already-existing AR solutions, some problems still exist therewith, particularly in connection with mobile solutions. Mobile devices such as smartphones or PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) typically have rather modest processing and memory capabilities in addition to limited battery capacity in contrast to desktop or even laptop computers, for instance. As a result, modeling and visualization of potentially complex 3D entities in connection with AR applications cannot be done at all, or at least various simplification procedures have to be performed to a level that noticeably degrades the perceived quality of the visualized result. However, the utilization of bulkier and heavier, but admittedly generally more powerful, laptop or desktop computers is in many applications impossible or at least extremely impractical considering e.g. different, basically location-independent, outdoor, travelling or navigation scenarios mentioned hereinbefore.